


A Magical Connection

by Raybird99 (orphan_account)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Acts of violence, F/M, Other, Reader has female parts and pronouns, Sans is a taxi driver, Self insert / reader, sans/reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-06-07 17:17:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6816193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Raybird99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After your history with abuse from a step mother, and being treated not so kindly by her daughter, you escape to Woodhurst, a town of many things. Your friend Arin, your new house, and... Monsters?  Having escaped your family finally, your life can only get better from here, right?</p><p>
  <b>Hey so I gave up on this one too. So Sorry. Follow me for small requests since I can't finish a full book here at <a href="i-write-occaisonally.tumblr.com"> this blog!</a></b>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Hey! So, this is a re-write of chapter 1 from my other fic, **Undertwists** which you can read [Here!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6160227/chapters/14114685)~~
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> ~~If you want to see some random Undertale posts,[click/tap here to go to my tumblr!](https://probably-obsessed-with-trash.tumblr.com)~~
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> **This is no longer a rewrite from my other fic, and is now _completely_ different!**
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> **Also, I have a separate tumblr I am using. I now have an official tumblr for this specific fic. It can be found[ _right here <3_](https://amagicalconnection.tumblr.com)**
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> I hope you enjoy! <3

After waiting outside for almost half an hour after your shift ended, you figure it’s safe to say that your sister won't be showing up anytime soon to bring you home. Figures. You pull your cell phone out of your pocket, and look up the closest taxi service. You didn’t know your way around enough yet to just walk home, since you had recently moved, so that wasn’t even an option. 

“Hello, Woodhurst Taxi speaking. How may we help you?” The woman that had answered the phone was very monotonous and boring. If it hadn’t been for the loud sigh afterwards, you could have almost been convinced that it had been an automated message.

“Oh, yes, hello. Uh, I need a taxi-” 

“Obviously. Where are ya’ located.” Okay, monotonous, boring, and quite rude. You’d remember to not to use this taxi service again, if you could help it.

“Oh, uhm.” Looking around for a quick second, you see the street sign a few buildings down. “West Main street? Outside of the Café?”

“Alright. It’ll be about 20 minutes.”

“Thank y-” She had already hung up. Alright, time to wait outside for at least 20 more minutes, you think. It could be worse, you guess, you’re just lucky that it’s mid-July and not mid-December, when it gets to as low as -4°. 

_ ‘Uhg, why didn’t I just get a ride from Arin,’ _ you think to yourself. Arin was your coworker, and close friend from high school. When he heard you were moving to Woodhurst, he had talked his boss into giving you an interview, and you had gotten the job, starting immediately the day after. Today was only your second day, and since he knew you didn’t know your way around quite yet, he had asked if you had wanted a ride home, saying it would be no big deal. You had declined his offer, putting too much faith into your sister, and her ruining your said faith in her, yet again. And now, you have to wait for someone to bring you home, standing by the side of the road at 7pm. Surprisingly, you notice, there’s barely any traffic, even though you would consider this a fairly popular street.

You decided to play games while you waited, figuring that it would be some way to keep your mind off things. After a few rounds of pool, the taxi cab pulls over to the curb and rolls the window down.

“someone call for a cab?” A deep voice drifts from the vehicle, and you think you catch a slight New York accent. 

“Oh, yeah! I did, thank you so much.” Putting your phone to sleep and finally looking up at the cab driver, you realize that he’s quite boney. In the sense, that he is literally made of bone. He is a skeleton. You feel like you should be surprised, but you’re not, somehow. Over the past few days in the café, you’d seen some pretty interesting people come in. Anywhere from the one woman where her head was a giant hand, to the young orange reptile –dinosaur?– with no arms. 

You refused to call them what they even call themselves, “monsters”. It sounded so harsh and cruel to you, reminding you of nightmarish stories from things living under beds and in closets. And after all, they have feelings too, just like all the other people in the world, and you decided to treat them just like anyone else.

Opening the passenger seat door, you get settled down and buckle yourself in. “ _ ice _ to meet’cha i’m sans. sans the skeleton. where we headed tonight?” Looking over at the driver once more, you realized he looked fairly short, and was wearing something you’d think was straight from some kind of gangster movie; black slacks with a striped shirt –rolled up at the sleeves, so you could see all the bones below his elbow– and suspenders. You couldn’t see his shoes from here, but you could only imagine that they’d be those shiny black ones they’d be wearing in the movies.

Chuckling, you have to address his not-appropriate timed pun. "Ha ha. Ice puns don't work in the summer, Mr. _Funny Bones_."

"heh, sorry. i just say anything to try to _rattle your bones_ , stuff like that just _goes right through me_." He –somehow– gives you a sly wink, and gives you the biggest shit-eating grin. "now, location?" 

You fumble in your purse to find the piece of paper you wrote your address on, given that you couldn’t remember it yourself. Finding it, you quickly rattle it off, and he starts the meter as he pulls the cab away from the curb, towards the direction of your house. After a long day, your hair feels gross being up in a ponytail all day, because of having to wear a hairnet  _ and  _ a mandatory work cap. You quickly reach up and pull the tie from you hair, wrapping it around your wrist as you shake out and loosen your hair. 

“so, what’s a pretty girl like you doing out, stranded on the road by herself?  _ hair _ has got to be something I’m missing here.” He glances over for a second, giving a slight grin and a chuckle, before returning his eyes to the road. Great, you got the taxi driver with a –dare you say it–  _ funny bone. _

_ ‘Oh yeah, just my older sister leaving me out of the loop, again’  _ you think. But you feel like you shouldn't indulge your problems on a complete stranger that you just meant. Especially one that was probably just trying to be nice, and wasn’t actually concerned with you.

“Just, some issues with my plans for a ride, is all. Never showed up like she said she would.” You sigh, probably more dramatically than you would’ve tried, and watch out the window at the houses passing.

“oh, well that wasn’t very  _ ice  _ of her, now was it? sounds like a pretty  _ cold-hearted  _ thing to do, to me at least.” He chuckles again, a little more harshly than before. And even though he’s laughing, you can tell he still means it. Something about his laughter makes you unable to help yourself, and you soon find yourself giggling along. “there’s that smile i knew you had. now, you wanna talk about what happened? might help.” His smile turns genuine, and you notice that in his eye sockets, he has bright lights that seem to dissipate your angers. The lights somehow seem… thoughtful. Caring.

Resolving that you might as well explain the basics of your problems, you sigh in defeat and piece together what to say in your mind. “I mean, it’s really not important. Unreliable sister, told me she’d pick me up, never showed up. That’s about it, I told you it was nothing.” 

He seems to think about this for a second, long enough to make you think he just isn’t going to respond at all, before he speaks again. “eh, that’s still a pretty shit to do, especially to family. sorry ‘bout that, hope she makes it up to you someday.” He audibly sighs, sounding irritated. The lights in his eyes seem to flicker and dim slightly.

“Well, I doubt that, but thanks anyway. It means a lot.” You give a polite smile, and turn your head to watch out the window and see the houses becoming a little more familiar. Realizing you have work again tomorrow, you should probably schedule a cab for tomorrow morning. “Oh, uh, I don’t know if people usually do this or not, but is there a way I can schedule a cab, like, in advance? I don’t have a ride in the morning to work, and I don’t wanna bother my friend to have him come get me.”

He glances over and gives you an odd look. Okay, you guess, that that is not something people do here. “uh, sure i guess. same place i’m dropping you off?” He asks, still sounding quite confused.

“Yeah, at probably 7? I work the early morning shift.” You feel your face warming from slight embarrassment. You figure you probably should’ve just waited until the morning to just call a cab.

“ok. not many people at work drive that early in the mornin’, ‘sides me, anyway. i’ll just pick you up myself. i mean, is that alright? not gonna weird you out, having a skeleton driver and all?” His voice sounds more even now, even though it isn’t completely softened back to normal. He gestures with an arm and his eyes at his body, trying to get the point across of his lack of flesh.

Of all things that it would be considered a proper response, you choose the less proper, and laugh. It isn’t until you see the offended look he’s trying to cover up that you stop to address his question.

“Hey, oh, geez I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, uh, that probably seemed like such a dick move, oh my god. Sorry. I don’t care that you’re a skeleton, I mean obviously it matters but—” You pause a moment, trying to pull words from your mind. “The point is, is that I have nothing against monsters. Or skeletons. You’re fine, I mean, you’re great. Just–” He chuckles a bit now, and holds up his hand to silence you. 

“hey, hey, no worries. it’s all alright, don’t need to work yourself  _ down to the bone _ .” He pauses while both of you chuckle. You didn’t even realize you were holding in a nervous breath, but now the conversation certainly feels lighter, easing away some of your embarrassment. “also, i may have been getting a little concerned with how little you were breathing when you starting rambling. but that settles it, i’ll be here tomorrow morning.” His face molds back into a peaceful smile, making it seem almost like he had actual cheeks instead of just cheekbones. “but, it seems like we have reached-” he pauses for what you can assume as some sort of humerus dramatic pause as he pulls into your driveway. “-our destination.” He puts the cab into park and reaches over to stop the still running meter, now paused with your total coming out to be $13.18. 

You hand him a 10 and a 5 dollar bill, then tell him to keep the change, seeing as to get out a dollar and 82¢ wouldn’t be worth it. You feel like just counting it as a tip. “Thanks a bunch, Sans. I’m glad I got a driver nicer than whoever answered the phone, at least. I almost just hung up, but you know what? I’m glad I didn’t. See you… tomorrow? I guess?” You chuckle a bit and smile at him, before opening your door are stepping out. As you close the door you hear a muffled ‘see ya’ tomorrow, sweetheart’, and you feel your cheeks heat up after hearing his choice of nickname for you. The car swiftly backs out of the driveway and back down the road you just had came from.

Not lingering outside longer than needed, you head into the house and take off your jacket, already feeling the blanket of heat surrounding you. You didn’t remember leaving the heat on this high, you almost never have it so hot inside in the Summertime. You walk over to the thermostat, and turn it down, you figure that 50° is probably good enough. You’d rather the house be cold instead of hot anyway, especially on such a warm night.

Walking into the Living Room, you throw your bag through the dark room onto your recliner, promptly followed by a loud “Ow!”

Startled, you jump back, and a string of curse words fall from your mouth. You take a few steps back, and catch your breath, staring down your chair through the darkness.

“You know, you could try turning a light on first? You know, instead of just throwing stuff on me?” You finally recognize the voice as your sisters’, and your fear turns to confusion. “Are you just going to stand there? You even going to say anything? Not even a ‘hello’?”

“Why are you here? You just scared the crap out of me, Sam. And why were you in the dark?” You walk back over to the doorframe, flicking on the light once you’re close enough. Sure enough, there was your sister, lying in the recliner, a blanket messily on top of her.

“Still no hello? Wow, you don’t even know how to greet your own family. But, if you must know, my friend kicked me out, I can’t live there anymore. So I came here, guess I’m crashing here for now.” She rubs her eyes and struggles to keep them open now with the sudden bright light, in a room that had previously been dark as can be.

“Uh, you didn’t think to, you know, ask me about this first? How did you even know where I lived? And… why’d you get kicked out?” You raise your hand to your face, supporting your head, too tired to even want to deal with her right now.

“I’m your sister, should I need to ask? You’re supposed to be there for family! But boy, you sure are a bunch of questions. Still have that thing where you just need to know all of what’s going on, I see.” She pauses to yawn and stretch out, seeming to take her sweet time. Her presence rises bubbled down anger to your mind, who comes into your house just to be rude to you? “...Anyway, I asked Arin. Would you know why he didn’t even want to tell me? Does he not like me?”

You sigh and raise your head back up from your hand, dragging your palm down your face. “Look, ok, whatever. You can stay here. I want you out within a week. I barely make enough to feed me, and we both already know you don’t work.” You’d rather not answer all her questions, and get the conversation over and done with. “No friends over, either. Alright? Is this conversation over?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” She rolls her eyes at you and throws the purse you had thrown her onto the couch on the other side of the room. 

“You realize I have a spare bedroom, right?” You don’t want her staying here, but you figure you like it even less thinking of her sleeping on your recliner. You don’t like her, but you aren’t a horrible person, right? The look she gives you confirms your suspicions and it seems as if no, she did not know you had a spare bedroom. “Up the stairs, first door on the right when you go down the right hallway.” She nods at you knowingly and sluggishly pulls herself up and trudges up the stairs. 

You walk through the kitchen door to do what you originally planned on doing when you came in– get a glass of water. You realized working today, that working a 5 hour shift with nothing to drink can really be tiring. And you hadn’t wanted to just take a drink from the café, since you knew you would have to pay for it.

  
You grab your glass from one of the top cupboards, and fill it with tap water. Drinking slowly, you relax a bit. You hadn’t even realized how on edge and defensive she made you, just from being around her. After you dumped the remaining water in your glass down the drain and threw your jacket on the couch, you grabbed your purse and headed upstairs for some well deserved rest.


	2. Because He Wants To

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooo sorry that this is taking forever. I have about a month of school left, and between my school work, writers block hardcore, and some personal issues that I Wont go into detail about, it's been hard finding time to write, or knowing what to write. Hope this makes up for my absence.
> 
> As always you can [find this piece of trash on tumblr here!](https://probably-obsessed-with-trash.tumblr.com) I post when I update and you can ask me/tell me whatever you want.

Waking up to the sound of your horrendous phone’s alarm was not fun. You groggily fling your arm towards the obnoxious noise –why in the hell did you choose _That’s Not My Name_ as an alarm?– you land your hand on the device and pick it up. Glancing at the time, 6:20, you realize that this isn’t your first scheduled alarm, either. You rub your eyes while sitting up to stretch, and let out a loud yawn.

You paw through your drawers for a clean shirt and some capri’s, along with underwear, carrying the bundle of clothes with you into the bathroom. Setting everything down on the counter space surrounding your sink, you turned on the water for the shower to what should be just above freezing. ‘ _Well, I gotta wake myself up somehow, I guess_.’ You thought as you quickly undressed yourself, and threw the dirty clothes into your hamper. Stepping into the shower you were immediately prickled from head to toe in what must be hundreds of goosebumps. The water did it’s job at least- you feel at least five times more awake than before.

After feeling much more awake, you turn the temperature to something more tolerable and quickly washed out your hair. Being now much cleaner and satisfied with your consciousness, you shut the shower off and step out to towel yourself dry. You’d have to just dry out your hair as much as you could with the towel, you didn’t have enough time to blow dry it right now.

Slipping into your clothes quickly and stepping out the door, you return to your room, frantically searching for your brush that you were constantly loosing. You finally spot it on top of your chair in front of your computer desk, and retrieve it. You pull the brush through your hair while grabbing your purse and shoving your phone inside, making sure you had everything you would need for the day. Still brushing your hair, you ran downstairs, and nearly smashed face-first into your sister while turning into the kitchen.

It was only now that you recalled how much taller than you she was. You weren’t exactly “short”, but she was definitely tall, standing almost a whole head taller than you. God, did she remind you of your stepmother.

“Hey, woah, watch where you’re going, idiot.” She gives you a sour look and proceeds to walk– almost through you, you might add –to the living room, to plop down onto the couch and turn on the TV.

“Wasn’t expecting you to be up, uh, I’m in a rush, sorry.” You power walk through the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle after remembering how dehydrated you had gotten, and getting one of your pre-made sandwiches from the fridge. You noted that there were two less than there were when you left to go to work yesterday.

Throwing it into a paper bag, you set your hairbrush on the counter and walk back through the doorway and into the living room. Sighing from both being almost ready and knowing you had a ride you snatch your jacket and cap off the couch.

Oh, crap. Your ride. You check the clock on the wall and read the time; 7:10. ‘ _Whoops_ ,’ you think. You check out the window, and sure enough, there’s Sans’ cab, with him in it, looking… a little on edge, actually. Maybe worried? Either way, you felt bad for making him wait there, who knows how long he had been sitting out there, all by himself. You check yourself in the mirror, and after tying your hair into a neat bun and putting on your cap, you think you’re just about ready to go. Finding your comfy pair of Vans, you slip them on and open the front door.

“ _Hey_ , no friends, over. Remember that. Alright?” You glance back at your sister, unable to see her face from the way she’s facing towards the TV screen. She nods and makes an unenthusiastic ‘Mhmm’ at you, waving you off.

You start the short walk down your walkway, and Sans glances up to catch your eye, visibly relaxing. His grin widens and his eyes brighten more than you’ve seen before. Or maybe it was just seeming brighter since it was day, who knew. You wave lazily, and he waves even lazier back, making you laugh. You go to pull the passenger door open, saying a quiet ‘hello’ before closing the door and buckling yourself.

You notice he’s wearing definitely something more casual, just a plain white t-shirt and some sweatpants. You wonder to yourself just a bit if he had even gotten dressed that morning, or if he had just picked you up after waking up.

“Sorry, I’m uh, a little later than I said I’d be. I didn’t plan on keeping you waiting, I was a little late waking up this morning.” You wince a bit, you hope he isn’t mad at you. You didn’t want someone you’ve known less than a day already have a reason to dislike you. And you really needed new friends. ‘ _Am I really thinking about being friends with my taxi driver? I mean… Uhg. Yeah. Yeah I am.'_ He starts up the car, and drives away from the curb in front of your house.

He chuckles a bit, which catches you off guard, if anything. “mad at you? why would I be mad, sweetheart?” You watch his eyes squint a little, a friendly yet curious smile crossing his face while he watches the road. You feel your guilt set in, as you now see how wrong your accusations must have been. Great, now you feel bad.

“I don’t– just– because? I don’t know, Sans. I made you wait here, in a car, sitting out in the sun.” You realize now that you seem to have raised your voice, and you pause for a moment to take a deep breath and calm down. He wasn’t mad, and you didn’t need to be upset over this. In a now quieter and more sincere voice, you add, “You didn’t seem to be having fun out here, either. I’m sorry.” You lean your elbows on your knees and hold your head in your hand, calming yourself down.

“hey, hey, no need for that, alright? i’m not mad. i’ve only been out here for like 15 minutes, and don’t worry about the ‘sitting in the sun’ thing. i mean, it’s a car. if it got too hot, it has an A/C.” He seems genuinely worried, and you turn your head and lift it slightly to look at him. His eye-lights seem dimmer, he has them almost squinted, and his mouth is turned into a frown. “everything’s going  _tibia_  alright, okay?” He gives you an expectant smile, and you can’t help but laugh, hoping that you don’t seem too grogged down. You sit back up in your seat and take a deep breath.

“Sorry, just, I didn’t know if you’d be mad at me or something. I’m sure you’ve got places to be, and I shouldn’t be lagging you behind.”

“places to be? nah. i’m free all day.” He chuckles a bit. His positivity seems to be contagious, as you soon start feeling happier yourself, just from hearing how carefree he is, his laughing, having someone that seemed like they actually cared.

It takes you a minute to question his statement. “Free all day? I thought you were working though? I’m basically just keeping you from doing your job.” You turn to look him in the face, and he looks over at you and shrugs, then turns away again.

“heh, i guess i may have lied about working. i have the day off today, but who could’ve told you no to a ride?” You’re not sure how to respond to that, so you don’t. Him, just wanting to give you a ride? Besides Arin, you’re not sure who else has ever even just given you a ride somewhere. You notice that he never even started the taxi’s meter, was he just giving you this ride for free?

The rest of the ride goes by in silence, but it’s not quite uncomfortable.

“So, how much do I owe you?” You ask, as he comes to a stop in front of the café. You unbuckle yourself, and grab your wallet from out of your purse.

He grabs your wallet from your hands, and puts it back into your still open purse on your lap. “nothin’. i told ya’, i’m not workin’ right now. i gave you a ride because i wanted to.” He smiles at you, his cheekbones dyed a faint baby blue.

“Sans–” You begin to protest but he puts his hand over yours, keeping you from grabbing your wallet back out. You close your mouth and give out a sigh of defeat. “Alright. Okay, I’ll let you this one time.”

His smile brightens even more, as he takes his hand back. “there’s gonna be another time?” His eyes seemed to be little stars, but you can’t tell for sure. You chuckle, shrugging and sticking your tongue out at him. “heh, well. if it turns out that you wanna hang out, lemme see your phone.” Lagging a second, unsure if you wanted to hand him your phone, you cave and realize that it was you that had wanted to be friends with him. You reach back into your purse, you grab out your cell phone, unlock it, and hand it to him.

He takes it and finds your contacts, creating one for himself. You wonder how he’s even using the touch screen, given that he doesn’t have fingers, but you aren’t hearing the tapping of bone against glass. A few moments pass, and he hands it back.

“Well, I’ll see you later then. Thank you, again, for the e ride. It means a bunch.” You throw your phone back into your purse and open the car door and step out, hearing him mumble a ‘no problem’ before you shut the door and walk into the café.

____________________________________________

You’re serving a customer a bagel they had ordered when Sans strolls into the café, only half an hour after he had dropped you off. Your confusion only rises when a moment later, a much, much taller skeleton enters behind him.

Sans starts towards the counter in which you were still standing behind at a leisurely pace. The taller of the two skeletons trailed behind, looking rather excited, for no apparent reason. As he reaches the counter, you account for his height. Not as short as you were expecting, but at least an easy 3 or 4 inches shorter than you. As the other skeleton approaches, you note that that is not the case for them. They’re an easy foot and a half taller, but he still doesn’t seem to intimidate you, even with his massive height.

“Oh, hey Sans? Didn’t expect you to be coming back so quick.” You let out a light chuckle at the taller skeleton’s outfit– some strange shirt reading ‘jogboy’, short shorts, and… were those full sized basketballs on their shoulders?

“heh, ‘sup? i didn’t expect to be back so soon either, but when i told my bro what i was up to all morning, he begged me to let him meet you. and how could i say no to him?” He glances up at the excited skeleton, a bright grin on his face. “i mean, if that’s alright with you?” His eyes meet yours, slightly strained now. Is he worried that you’d tell them to leave? It seems as if he knew as little about you as you had about him.

“Yeah! Of course it is, this is great. I’d love to meet your brother.” You smile at Sans and then look to the other brother, which seems ever more excited than before.

“Who’s your new friends?” You recognize the voice as your friend Arin and turn to see him as he playfully punches you in the arm. Sans eyes him suspiciously before you laugh, which seems to comfort him some.

“Oh, hey Arin! This is the friend that gave me a ride last night and, well, like thirty minutes ago. This one’s Sans, and he’s…” You trail off, turning back to Sans. It takes him a moment to realize he hasn’t even introduced you two yet.

“oh, this is papyrus. the great papyrus, actually. the greatest brother anyone could ever have.” He says this as a matter-of-fact statement, one that has you believing that he must really be the best brother. You smile with adoration at the both of them for a moment.

“Well, hey guys. I’m Arin, the great best friend. Someone’s gotta watch out for this clumsy goofball, right?” He laughs and elbows you in the side, making you laugh as you elbow him back.

“OH YES! HUMAN’S ALWAYS NEED SOMEONE TO WATCH OUT FOR THEM, THEY ARE MUCH TOO SQUISHY AND DEFENSELESS TO BE ALONE!” When Papyrus finally talks, you’re taken back by his obvious lack of volume control, seeming to be borderline yelling everything. You wince slightly as an old memory passes through your mind, before taking a deep breath and closing your eyes to calm down for a moment. Arin seems too surprised at the taller skeleton’s voice to have noticed your reaction, but after a quick glance you see Sans watching you, he had definitely noticed.

You hope the distracted look you give him is enough to keep him from questioning you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Again my [tumblr is here :) ](https://probably-obsessed-with-trash.tumblr.com)


	3. Move Along Like I Know You Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I'm on my last week of school, and I have next chapter all planned out already, so it shouldn't take too long for the next update. Hope you guys are enjoying!
> 
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> [Yell at me and remind me to update here! (This link is specifically to my ask box c: ) ](http://probably-obsessed-with-trash.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
>  
> 
> [ Find me on tumblr here :) ](http://probably-obsessed-with-trash.tumblr.com)

After general introductions, Arin goes back to making coffees and grabbing customers donuts. Thankfully it had been a slow day, so not too many customers had came in and were able to be taken care of by another employee. But now, with their shift ending, Arin said he'd step up and run behind the counter so that you could continue talking with Papyrus and Sans.

Throughout your talk with Sans and Papyrus, you notice Sans a few times glancing at you with a worried look. Whenever he caught you looking back at him, he was quick to change his expression into something much more relaxed, and if you hadn't had caught his expression a moment before, you would have just assumed he was genuinely relaxed. You wonder if you should be concerned with how well he hides this or not.

Papyrus, on the other hand, had kept the conversation light and interesting. Sometimes you had zoned out, staring at one thing or another around the room, but it didn't seem to bother him. Whenever you had zoned back in, you were quick to pick up from where you left off, usually able to fill in the spaces you had missed. He talked about the strangest things, and from what you've been able to decipher, you heard of how he was, at one point in time, some sort of warrior for the underground, with a group called the 'Royal Guard’. At least, that’s what you think. Sometimes with you ‘filling in the gaps,’ you didn’t hear some of the important details.

He also seemed to talk about a place called waterfall that he visited often before coming to the surface, one of his warrior friends lived there, teaching him his basic knowledge of cooking. They– you had missed their description of them –had been the one that also had trained them. You couldn’t really picture this tall skeleton as some sort of warrior, given his awkward armor– or, battle body as you had heard him refer to it as –and such happy attitude towards everything. Then again, you had only just met, how could you possibly know what he was capable of?

You’d been zoning out again, when instead of Papyrus getting your attention back, it had been Sans snapping his fingers in front of your face. How he did that with bones, you may never know.

“Sorry I keep zoning out, I’ve been really distracted today, what was it?” You glance between the two skeletons, the larger brother giving you a big smile. You smile back politely before returning your attention back to Sans.

“oh, just figured we should let you go, so you can, ya’ know, do your job. we didn’t mean to keep you from doing what ya’ should be doing. this has been fun though, maybe we can do this again sometime?” His cheekbones are back to that sweet tint of blue that is becoming more and more familiar to you. And damn you, you thought it was the cutest thing.

Remembering your place and recognizing that he just asked you– wait. Did it count as a date? You hope it does and doesn’t at the same time. Either way, it makes you smile, and you nod back quickly. You feel your cheeks warm. “Yeah, that would be really cool. Maybe sometime when I’m not working then?”

He seems overjoyed to the response, and says a simple “ok.” back. “c’mon pap, we gotta get going. did you have a nice time here?” He stands from his seat, and looks up his brother, that is still about a foot taller than him even while he’s still sitting.

“OH YES! I HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME. I HOPE I WILL SEE YOU AGAIN SOON, HUMAN!” He stands, making his deep red scarf flutter impressively, and regaining his height once again, being much, _much_ taller than you, he makes a pose of what you think must be his super hero pose. With his hands on his hips, shoulders squared, and his head pointed up and to the right (looking really, at nothing), you feel like he has practiced that exact pose many, many times.

Just as quickly as he had gotten into his pose, he’s back to himself, waving a quick goodbye before running back outside. Sans takes his time, walking at a slow pace, also waving back at you before leaving the café.

“Quite the friends you’ve got there. I like them.” Arin seems to appear beside you from nowhere, jumping you slightly as you realize you were still watching the door. He laughs and pats your back soothingly, heading back into the back kitchen, probably to clean something while waiting for more customers to show up.

You smile to yourself. 'Friends’. You liked that. “Yeah, they’re… something, alright.”

______________________________

You’re so preoccupied with wiping a table and letting your mind wander, that you don’t even notice the time until Arin has to speak up.

“Hey, you realize it’s 6:45, right? Your shift ended fifteen minutes ago.” Glancing up to the clock you have in the front of the store, you see that he isn’t messing around. He laughs as you finish wiping off the table, and you throw the rag at him, successfully hitting him in the face. 

“No! I didn’t even realize it, uhg, thank you. Think you can take a break to bring me home? I haven’t quite figured out my ride situation.” You smile weakly at him, already untying the back of your apron. 

“Yeah, sure. You know, you really should get that straightened out soon, though. I won't always be able to help, you know?” He shrugs as he takes the rag you threw at him and wipes the rest of the table down lazily, only wiping off the noticeable crumbs, before somehow managing to throw it on top of the front counter.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean, for now I have you and Sans. I’ve been trying to get myself a ride, hopefully one will turn up soon.” You sigh and take the apron off finally, draping it over your arm and holding your cap in your hand. 

Arin takes a quick detour around the kitchen, telling another employee that he’d be back in a minute, that he was just bringing you home really quick. Luckily, the café wasn’t too strict about breaks, so they let you just take one whenever, within reason, of course. 

Heading outside with Arin at your heels, you head for that red car that he’s had since his Junior year of high school. Some things just don’t change. You hop into the passenger seat and Arin does the same, instead sitting in the driver’s seat. 

“You know, I still haven’t even seen your place yet. Is it at least nice?” He starts the car after buckling, heading for the exit to the café’s small parking lot. 

“It’s not too bad, actually. With such cheap rent, I was expecting something really bad. It holds up though, and I’ve finally got everything out of the boxes and put away!” You dig into your purse again for your address. Wow, you really ought to memorize that. You rattle it off and point in the general direction before you take off down the road.

Before long you’ve made it home, and you hop out of the car. To your surprise, Arin hops out too. You give him a confused look before he blushes and laugh, shaking his head.

“Oh, sorry! The way you were talking about it, I thought you were gonna show me around the place. That’s nit what you meant, was it?” He seems to do some sort of mild grimace, half shutting his eyes.

“I didn’t know you actually wanted to see the inside! Yeah, you can come see it if you want.” You laugh, your confusion whisking away and happy relief replacing it. “Geez, as if I’d not let you see it. We’re still best friends, you know! In case you forgot in the past few years.” You walk up the pathway, and cross the porch to the door. You open it and usher Arin inside, wanting to get into the cooled house and out of the heat from outside.

And before you could realize what was off about the house, she presented herself to you and it told you everything you needed to know.

“Oh! You’re home a bit early, aren't cha?” There stood your sister Sam, dressed in your favorite dress. Holding a bottle of beer. _Your_ beer. Not only was she wearing your dress and drinking, she had her arm around a boy, with another girl behind her. You could hear numerous other voices coming from down the hallway as well.

“Actually,” you start with the most bitter, bone-chilling tone you can muster. “I’m a bit late. You have a few friends over, I see. How _nice_.” You close your eyes and rub your temples with your hands, feeling like you’ll have a headache before this is over. And it won’t be from having any of what your sister is drinking. “Sam, _sweety_ , can I talk to you upstairs for a minute?” You give her a sweet smile to accompony your glare, pointing up the stairs.

“Sure thing. One minute, Josh, honey.” She smiles at the boy, unwrapping her arm from his waist and giving him a flirtatious wink before turning back to you and curling her face into a sneer. 

“This’ll be quick Arin, I’m so sorry for this. Just chill out for a minute, I’ll be right back.” You both walk up the stairs quickly, into your spare bedroom. Disgustingly you have to kick an only half-dressed couple from the room before you’re even in a private space.

“What the fuck, Sam? I told you. Multiple times. No. Friends.”

“I heard no such thing, when was this?” She seems to smirk, and it takes a lot not to slap it off her face. You’d never want to sink ti her level though. To do what she had done to you for so many years. 

“This morning, and while I was leaving. I think I said it last night, as well. The point is, I told you no friends. Amd then you throw a party? This isn’t even your house.” You shake your head and sit on the floor against the wall, leaning your head back against the cool wood.

“So what? It’s just a party. Have some fun sometime, God.” Her voice is bitter and stings. Reminds you of darker times, when she used to loom overyou, more than she does even now that you’re both so much older. ‘Have some fun sometime’, words she’d say to you when she didn’t want you to tattle on her for something you both knew she shouldn’t be doing. Hitting you whenever you were brave enough to tell.

Tears threaten to betray your eyes as your head fills with memories. But all too quickly, the upset that you feel turns to rage. All of a sudden, you can’t hold it in anymore.

“I want you out of my fucking house, Sam. Right now. Take all of your slutty friends, too!” You rush to your feet and march up to her, surprised at the seemingly scared look she gives you. But if anything, it fuels you even more. “I didn’t even want you to stay here in the first place. I left to get away from _you_ , Sam. And then you show up, to haunt me even more? And then have the nerve to throw a _fucking party_? I want you to leave, right now! And I hope you never come back. I’m sick of all the shit you put me through, and I wont let you do it anymore!” 

You weren’t sure when your harsh words had raised their volume, and then further escalated into you screaming. You weren’t sure what you had even said anymore. What you were sure of though, is you felt as if a wave had been lifted from your chest, you felt better, honestly. You wipe the tears off your face that you didn’t know had sprung loose, and sit on the edge of the bed, cradling your head in your hands. You distantly are aware of the sound of footsteps as your sister leaves quickly.

A few minutes pass and you hear the door creek open. “I thought I–” You stop yourself as you look up enough to see Arin’s converse, all dirty like they always have been. The thought makes you laugh, and that’s when the dam breaks. The tears seem to spill endlessly, and sobs escape your mouth, beyond the point of being able to stay quiet. 

“Shh, hey, you’ll be alright, it’s gonna be okay.” Arin soothes you and wraps his arms around you as he sits beside you on the bed. He rubs his had up and down your back as you cry into his shoulder. 

“D-did they leav-ve?” You manage to choke out. You feel his head moving, nodding even though you can’t see him.

“Yeah, your sister came downstairs in tears. They said they weren’t going to go at first, but I threatened to call the cops if they didn’t.” He lets out a humorless laugh, “They seemed to leave pretty quickly after that.” He pulls apart and rubs your shoulders. “Now, let me make a call to work, you put on some comfy pajamas. We’re gonna have some fun.” He smiles at you and walks out the door before you can protest, and you faintly hear his voice talking on the phone before he walks too far away from the door for you to hear.


	4. Friendly Bonding Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for any of you that didn't see, I made a new tumblr specifically for this fic! So, if you wanted to know when I update, see stuff about the fic, ask me questions, that's the place to do it! You wont see any of my other dumb stuff I might post on my other blog, either! My name blog can be found [**right here**](https://amagicalconnection.tumblr.com) and would mean bunches for you guys to go and follow it! <3
> 
> Also, I hope you guys are enjoying the fic in general, I'm working pretty hard on it, and I knew I needed to get a new chapter out even though I've been pretty sick since yesterday morning. I'm trying to get into more of an update schedule, if you can't tell. <3
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading, and/or taking the time to even read this whole big long note. I appreciate every comment and kudos, thank you so much! Hope you enjoy!

You wipe your eyes, grateful for not wearing any makeup. You sniffle and stand from the bed, slightly confused about the events that had just occurred. Well, you figure, it doesn’t do any good to sit there and cry. 

You make your way out into the hallway, walking into your own bedroom and closing the door. You would put on your favorite onesie, but then think better against it, realizing how hot it would be. You decide on a simple black muscle tank top and some soft and stretchy blue plaid leggings. You finally have a chance to relax, taking off your shoes and work clothes. You throw your purse onto the bed in a heap.

You leave your room and make your way down the hall, and take the stairs slowly. You notice that, like Arin said, everyone is gone. You also notice that Arin is waiting beside the bottom of the railing, holding your fuzziest blanket and a cup of tea. 

“Did you… make me tea?” You pause on the stairs, eyeing him curiously.

“Uh, hah, yeah. Yeah I did.” He raises the mug and his smile turns somewhat embarrassed. “Is, uh. Is that okay?” He laughs nervously, unsure of what to do with the mug of tea now.

“It’s… perfect, Arin. Thank you. What’s all this about, though?” You step down the remaining steps, taking the blanket from him and draping it over your own arm. Taking the mug, the heat of the tea is comforting. You sip at the hot liquid, and it’s just how you like it.

“Well, after your sister seems to have ruined your night, I figured it would only be right to cheer you up. Now, an important question.” He walks into the living room, and you follow.

“You really don’t have to, Arin. This is really so sweet, but you don’t need to waste your Friday night on trying to cheer up someone, besides like a week ago, hadn’t talked to in like two years. You even left work to do this, ugh. Really, this is just gonna mess you up at work too. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel like you needed to do this–” He cuts you off by covering your mouth with his hand. His hand still smells like coffee, and is oddly soothing, and you might enjoy it if it weren’t for the hand over your mouth.

“Okay okay I’m going to stop you right there. First of all, this isn’t wasting my Friday. This is me being a good person and cheering up someone, that I might recall, said I was their best friend earlier?” He finally takes his hand off your mouth, raising one eyebrow at you. “Plus, this can just make up for those two years, can catch up and everything. Plus, do you realize how many friends I have in this town? Like, one. And it’s you.” He smiles and picks up two DVD cases off the TV stand. You know that you hadn’t put them there, he must’ve went through your DVD cabinet and found them. “Now. My important question. Which movie?” 

The movies he had picked out were actually two of your favorite movies. Grease and Chronicle. You weren’t too in the mood to watch kids flying around, so you decided to watch Grease instead. Bundled up on the couch with tea and a blanket– even though you could only cover half of yourself with it before it got too hot to bear –it doesn’t take long before you’re nodding off. h

______________________________

When you wake up, you notice it’s still dark out. You must not have slept long. Glancing over across the room, you see Arin, cuddled up in the recliner sleeping heavily. You let out an airy laugh at the sight of him in the sideways fetal position in a chair slightly too small for him.

You get up from the couch, letting the slightly chilly but refreshing temperature of the room surround you. You leave into the kitchen, grabbing your glass from the night before and rinsing it out slightly before filling it with water. You sip it slowly and then let out a sigh, feeling relaxed. 

You hear footsteps walk through the door and see a very sleepy looking Arin stumble in. He stretches and groans, bones in his back and arms audibly popping and cracking.

“What woke you up?”

He yawns before he answers. “Not that I was very comfortable, you probably say how I was sleeping. It doesn’t take much for me to wake up.”

You pick up another glass, holding it up to him in a silent offering. He shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair.

“Sorry for, you know, crashing on your chair. I didn’t mean to spend the night.”

“Arin, you’re welcome anytime. It’s alright. No one ever stays the night, it was nice to have a change.” You sip the last bit of your water and set the glass in the sink, walking back through the doorway to the living room. “But, I think I’m going to head up to my room. You can sleep in the guest room if you’d rather stay, but you don’t have to.” You gather up your blanket, leaving the empty mug on the side table beside the couch.

“Yeah, that’d be great, actually. I’d rather not drive all the way home, and anything would be better than this small chair–” He stops, as you hear what is unmistakably a car door slam and hushed angry voices. A concerned look crosses Arin’s face and he moves to the front window to see what the commotion is. 

“Oh shit. Shit. We need to go, like right now. Do you have any back doors? Any way out that can’t be seen by the front of the house?” He’s rushing away from the window, subconsciously raising his voice in out of fear.

“What? Arin, what’s going on?” You push forward to the window he had just moved from, looking out. What is outside is nothing short of terrifying. Multiple people dressed in black, some wearing masks, some not. One that isn’t wearing a mask, though, and you recognize them in the dim light. It’s Josh. Sam’s little _boy toy_. You note that they carry a variety of makeshift weapons; a baseball bat, crowbar, a _goddamn wrench_.“Arin. They- they’re people from the party. What do we do?” 

Arin had began pacing back and forth while you’ve been looking, quiet but firm footsteps in rhythm. “You didn’t answer me. Any doors? Anything?” He grabs you by the elbows to keep your attention, looking seriously into your eyes. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”

Thinking quickly of your house, you map each door and window in it.

“The window in the back room. It goes into the backyard on the other side of the house. Come on.” Moving quickly and without a word, you move through the house and to the back room. Arin goes to the window while you close and lock the door, hoping that that won’t be necessary. Arin struggles at first, but after a few seconds it starts to slide up. You move over to help, opening the window fully. 

“You go first, I’ll follow, alright?” Arin sounds scared, which scares you even more than you already were. You nod and step through the window, draping both legs over the side. Even though you’re only on the first floor, the uneven ground slanting slightly downwards has you about 6 feet off the ground. You exhale and push yourself off, right as you hear someone trying to open the door knob. 

You fall when you land, but quickly recover and stand upright once again. “Arin! You have to hurry!” You step backwards, watching the window. Arin doesn’t waste time, instead putting one foot up on the windowsill, and hurling himself out the window. He lands on the ground on his side, crying out in pain. 

He’s quick to silence himself when he hears the door slam open, someone rushing inside. You and Arin go around the side of the house, away from the still open window.

“Not in here! Keep looking! They’ve gotta be here somewhere, the vehicle is still outside!”

Crouching down and listening, you wait until you hear the intruder leave the room you escaped from before speaking, barely over a whisper. “I- what do we do?” 

He doesn’t answer, instead pulling out his phone and dialing 911. They pick up after the first ring.

He’s whispering, which must make it hard for the person he has connected with to hear, but they seem to be used to it. You can hear them speaking back to Arin, but you can’t quite make out what they’re saying. After a minute he turns to you and asks “What’s your address again?”

“Uhhh…” Here is one of those moments where you wished you had memorized your address. “On Maple Street? Ask them to just trace the phone, I can’t remember it. Shit.”

“Yeah, can you just trace the phone back? They can’t remember the address, they just moved. Alright. Thank you.” He shakes his head and rubs his face with no his hand. “Shit. They said they could try to be here within 30 minutes, that’s not quick enough.

Your words are cut off before you can speak, the sound of a vase being smashed filling both of you and Arin’s ears. “Arin, we- we can’t stay out here. We need to leave.” 

He seems to think about this for a moment before nodding and getting into a standing crouch position.

“Okay, we need to get to my car. What’s the most hidden way around the house?” He’s staring at you with such a ferocity that you have to forcefully clear your mind. 

“Uh. Um. Go around this way.” You gesture around the side of the house, the side you’re currently crouching against. “It’s pretty hidden. From where they’re parked, anyway. Anyone on this side could see us from the road. But it’s that way on the other side as well.” You shrug, but Arin is already walking against the house towards the street.

You quickly follow, tripping on a branch you didn’t see, but catching yourself. He turns around to give you a gentle shush, and you relax a bit, seeing the Arin you know back, even if just for a moment. His eyes turn cold again, continuing along the side of the house.

When you reach the end of the length of the house, he peeks out before turning back to you and muttering a silent “fuck.” under his breath.

“What is it?” The concern in your voice betrays the calmness you were trying to fake, coming out wavering and cracking slightly. Arin turns back to you, worry on his face. He hugs you quickly but firmly, lasting only a few seconds, but it’s enough to calm you down at least a bit. 

“There’s still someone in the vehicle, idk how we can get to my car without being seen. We might have to run for it. I know that that’s probably not–” You cut him off, putting a hand up to rest on his shoulder and nodding. 

“I might not like the idea, but we need to get out of here. We really have no other choice.” As if on cue, your living room TV is thrown through the window behind you. You have to cover your mouth from letting out a startled scream, but even your hand can’t stop the tears that begin flowing.

“Alright. You ready?” Arin’s face has lost the ferocity, only to be replaced by what seems like fear.

You give an uncertain nod. Arin looks around the corner once more before grabbing your forearm, rushing to his feet, and running towards his car.


	5. Long Car Rides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm trying super hard with this new update schedule! And so far, so good I think. Hopefully.
> 
> Find me on my official [**A Magical Connection Tumblr here!**](https://amagicalconnection.tumblr.com)
> 
> Hope you are enjoying <3
> 
> Also, I don't know who has noticed but I did _____ for the first time and have been meaning to ask, would you rather me continue to use _____ for a place to put any name, or just never use it like I have been doing?

It doesn’t take long for the person in the vehicle to notice you, as you sprint towards them, headed for Arin’s car. 

They seem to panic at first, looking around for something to do; someone to tell. They must not have expected to see either of you, wasn’t prepared for this outcome. It only takes a short moment for them to make up their mind; to follow their own instinct. They grab something from their passenger side seat and open the door. 

When they step away from the door, you can identify what they had grabbed. A small- about foot long - **lead pipeb**. Arin yanks your arm to run at more of an angle, trying to avoid the person and their vehicle.

But the pursuer is faster, smarter, running around the front of the car; headed straight at you both. Arin keeps running, going faster if anything, even though you’re at an uncomfortably close ten feet from them now. 

“Hey, what are you doing! Arin, we need to go, they’re going to hurt us!” You yell out, struggling slightly against his grip. He’s scaring you again. When did Arin get this way? _Why_ is he getting this way now?

“Just trust me! I got this!” Arin replies, pulling forward even harder, his grip so tight that you're sure it'll leave bruises after. You’re not sure whether to trust him or struggle, but decide on the former. You can’t leave him to defend himself. against this person that could be quite dangerous for all you know, but also have to deal with someone _he’s trying to help_ struggle away from him. You couldn't do that to him, even if there was a way out of his iron grip.

As you approach the figure quickly, they raise their pipe, and swing towards Arin. Arin doesn’t stop, instead he lets go of your arm, leaping into them. The pipe hits him directly in the left side with a sickening sound, but he smashes straight into them, plowing them over. They fall to the ground, and Arin kicks the pipe out of reach. You feel frozen, unsure of what Arin could have possibly done to them.

“Get to the car! I’ll be right behind you.” He looks you in the eye, and in the dim light, you see that he’s begging you to just leave him behind. 

“I- no. I won’t! Come on!” This time it’s your turn. You grab him from around the waist, dragging him along with you. He’s moving slower than before, his breath occasionally hitching when your arm moves over where he was hit, but it’s only what you expect. “Can you drive still?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. You need to.” 

His words move through you. Drive? Right now? You seem to have forgotten how to even drive in your full-blown panic. You must’ve at least somewhat been expecting this answer since you asked him the question, but you hadn’t seemed prepared for the answer. You reach his car finally and lean him against the passenger side of the car, and he waves off your help.

You go around to the other side of the car, getting into the driver’s seat. By the time you’re sitting down, Arin has barely managed to even open his door. He slumps down into the seat and slams the door, making some noise of discomfort and pain. When you go to turn the key, you realize it isn’t in the ignition.

“Where are the keys?” The words sound more like sobs, as you realize you have escalated into crying, out of fear or worry for your best friend, you aren’t sure. He looks at you confused.

“They… they were in there when I went inside…” His voice is hidden behind grunts of pain. Even talking hurts him.

“They’re not in here, Arin!” You laugh hysterically, checking anywhere you can think that they could possibly be in his car. They aren’t in the empty cup holder, in the console, under the foot map or on top of the sun visor. They aren’t in here

You look at Arin, and a second later he looks back at you as you each catch on simultaneously. They took his car keys. 

“I… I know what we need to do.” Your words are weak, but you know what you need to do. And Arin soon catches on. 

You both shove open your doors, and step out. Arin takes a moment longer to do so, still recovering. But, even though it should be, Arin isn’t your main concern at this moment. The person is outside your door. Limping, surely, but there nevertheless. Finally able to access them, their build and height can only making you assume they’re male. 

Frozen in fear, it takes you a second to spring into action. You rush forward, and elbow them to the throat, while simultaneously shoving them in the stomach. They step back and keel over, hands on their knees, trying to breathe. If you did that right, they should be fine, just a hard time breathing. Worse comes to worst… you don't think about that right now. You turn, but before you can rush to the car, you feel your right leg go out from beneath you, and your entire lower leg feels as if it has exploded.

One look back confirms it; they managed to hit your calf with the pipe that you hadn’t notice they were holding. You scream out in pain, trying to get away from them. You use your good leg to crawl away and towards the other car, thankful they hadn’t parked too far from Arin’s. Thankfully the person was still trying to breathe functionally, keeling over again and hacking harshly.

Arin had saw what had happened and stumbles over. He helps you up, and you’re able to hop on your good leg the rest of the way to his car. Instead of helping you in the driver’s seat, he puts you in the back seat. 

You don’t argue. You know that you wouldn’t be able to drive with such an injury. Instead, you grit your teeth and try your best to ignore the pain. You hear Arin sigh out of both pain and relief and you hear the jingling of keys. He puts the keys in the ignition and the car revs into life. You’ve almost forgotten about the 'Lead Pipe Person’, as you’ve thought to call them, before the side window is smashed open. But before they can hurt either you or Arin, he steps on the gas, and you’re on your way.

You pull away from the curb and head down the road, ignoring the speed limit and going at least fifty. You start to cry, and you don’t even bother trying to stop. Surprisingly, Arin cries too.

_____________________________

Before long, you're awhile away from your house, and able to finally obey traffic laws. You’ve stopped crying, reducing down to sniffling, and the occasional hiccup. You’re in a place that neither you or Arin recognize, but for the time being, you could care less. You figure 'if we don’t know where we are, hopefully they won’t know either.’ 

Your leg is still in unbearable pain, and you can’t even imagine how Arin’s side must be feeling. Turning on one of the dim overlights of the car, you slowly hoist your leg into the other back seat, getting a closer look at it. It looks worse than you would have imagined. There are dark blue marks covers the skin above your ankle, some already turning purple. As you go to touch it you immediately flinch away, hissing at the pain and balling your hand into a fist.

“You alright back there?” Arin glances at you through the rearview mirror, sounding concerned.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m alright. Just, fuck, this really hurts.” You go to place your foot back on the floor, but instead decide on moving it farther back and laying down.

“I know how you feel, dude. How bad does it look?” 

“I don’t know, you’ve had your shirt on this whole time, Arin.”

Arin starts laughing, sounding muffled from his hand, trying to make himself stop. “______. I meant your leg.” 

You pause before shaking with laughter. Well, that makes a lot more sense. Oops. “Oh, wow, I’m dumb. Uh, it doesn’t look good? At all, really. It’s all blue and purple and gross and swollen. And damn, does it hurt like a bitch!” All the tenseness and fear seems to be dripping away slowly, being replaced with relief and– dare you say it –a sense of calm. 

It seems Arin has calmed down as well since he’s laughing right along with you, even though it seems to hurt him more when he does. From what can you see of his face in the rearview mirror, it seems warmer, more welcome. Nothing like how harsh his features were earlier.

After a few more minutes of driving, you spot a gas station and decide to stop in. Arin checks the gas, and notice that it’s almost completely filled. He decided to go inside anyway, wanting to stretch his legs and get some waters. You move to leave the vehicle, but suggest better of not going inside. You wouldn’t want to attract attention. Instead, you figure at least moving around the back of the car to the passenger’s seat couldn’t be too bad. But oh were you wrong. As soon as you put any weight on your right foot, the edges of your eyes seem to go black from how much pain you’re in. 

You sit back in the seat in defeat, with the door still open and your legs still outside the vehicle. The cool and humid night is refreshing, and you could use the air. 

When Arin comes back towards the vehicle with two waters, you suddenly come to your senses with how thirsty you really are. He gives you a confused look and chuckles, handing you a water once he’s close enough. 

“Someone’s eager to get out, aren’t they?” He takes a swig of water, flinching slightly and switching the water to his left hand to be able to hold his left side with his right.

You chuckle back, glad that the air is now light and airy, able to take a breather and relax. “Yeah, I went to move to the passenger seat, but, it’s pretty hard to move around on this foot.” You gesture to your damaged foot and hear him hiss. 

“Woah, here, let me look at it. I haven’t even seen it yet. I- Wow I didn’t know it was this bad.” He grabs the sole of your foot and begins to extend your leg, but immediately stops when he hears you hiss out some pretty colorful vocabulary. “Shit, should we… I don’t know. Should we go to a hospital?”

You think for a moment before you give in and nod. “Yeah, we probably should. Who knows how bad this actually is.” As you take in the severity of the situation that is your leg, you can only imagine how bad Arin’s side must look. “Is yours this bad too?” 

He sighs, possibly hoping that you wouldn’t have asked. Reluctantly, he turns so that his left side is facing you and raises his shirt above his head, and off his shoulders. 

“Yeah… I looked when I went inside in their bathroom. It doesn’t look pretty.” 'Doesn’t look pretty’ is a definite understatement. His entire side is bruised from the bottom of his ribs to right underneath his armpit, spotted in blues and purples of all shades. It looks puffed out and swollen, more so in a line from where the pipe has hit him directly. Only now do you feel the enormity of what he had done to try to keep you safe. 

“Jesus, Arin! Yours looks even worse than mine does!” You shake your head and pull yourself all the way into the car while he gets his shirt back on. You shut the car door and he follows suit, getting back behind the wheel and shutting his own door. 

“So, off to the hospital?”

“Noo, I thought we were going to the zoo! Yes, to the hospital, oh my God. We have to get you checked out.” You laugh through your grumpy sigh, worried for your friend.

“Don’t forget about yourself already, chico. Your leg looks pretty bad too.” He looks back at you with the look of a concerned father, making you only laugh harder. He takes his time buckling up, trying to keep his side from hurting more than necessary. He pulls away from the station, and heads towards the nearest town, following road signs blindly.


	6. A Late Night Check-Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy, even though this chapter may be kinda boring, sorry!
> 
> [As always, find me on tumblr here to get first here of an update, and to see new tidbits about characters!](https://amagicalconnection.tumblr.com)
> 
> [See the little character sheet-type-thing I made for Arin, spoiler-free!](http://amagicalconnection.tumblr.com/post/145948167895/no-one-asked-for-this-but-guess-what-youre)
> 
> Also, we're at just about 800 views at the time of me posting this, but it seems like it's all coming in so quick! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this trash that I've decided to write <3

Thankfully the town you do stumble across at least has a small Family Practices center. You know they probably won't have much to help you, but hopefully they can direct you to an actual hospital if need be. The door says that they don’t officially open until 5, but you peer in and see light inside. And after managing to use your left leg and Arin as a balancer to hop up to the door, you hope it’s close enough. 

Arin checks his phone, and sees that it’s almost 4:30AM.

“Well, only one way to see if they’ll check us out,” Arin says. He steps back and waits for you to hop out of the way before opening the door– surprised that it’s even unlocked –and (slowly) you both make your way inside. You hop your way through the waiting room, sitting in the first chair you come to. Arin walks up to the help desk and rings their bell, looking for anyone that may be working. “Hello? We need some help out here!” His voice bounces through the room, down the hallway, slightly echoing within the silent building. “Hello-o-o!” He steps back from the help desk and joins you in the chair beside you, sighing with defeat and frustration. “Where is everyone when you need them.” He says to himself. 

You move your hand to his back, rubbing comforting circles in between his shoulder blades. “We can just wait out here for now, it won’t be long until they open. Though, I’m not sure why the front doors would be open, should there be someone out here?” You glance towards the empty help desk again, hoping someone might just come from somewhere unseen. You know deep down how irrational that is, but keep hoping anyway.

Arin checks the time on his phone again- 4:45 AM now. The time is creeping along so slowly that you feel like you might just take a nap to pass the time. But in your tired thoughts, you drift to think of Sans, and his brother Papyrus. How nice it is to have friends you care about again, and that care about you. First there was Arin, which you would’ve been perfectly happy with. But now, there are two other people in your life that make things better.

Suddenly you feel like you should be calling Sans to tell him what’s happened, before he can see anything from somewhere else and be worried.

“Hey, Arin? Can I borrow your phone?” He looks over at you before handing you his phone, and unlocking it for you. “And… do you by any chance have the Woodhurst Taxi’s number in here?”

He gazes at you confused before slowly nodding. “Yeah? And, what about it?” 

“I need to call Sans.” Is all you reply before you find the contact and hit call. 

___________________________

It takes a while for the woman to comply to your simple demands. Still as arrogant and rude from before. After a few minutes she realizes that you’re asking for Sans’ number, and suspiciously asks you why you need it.

You tell Arin this, slightly panicking. And as smooth as he can muster- which isn’t very -says “Just tell her you’re his girlfriend?”

Not only do you know that you’re blushing, but you feel the warmth on your face and all down your neck. You cover the microphone on his cell phone, and angrily whisper at him. “Arin, what the Hell! I’ve only known him like… like literally a day!”

“Hey, chill little bro. She doesn’t know that.” He gives you a smug grin that you hate, but can’t help but give in with a small smile. 

“Alright, alright, fine. Ugh.” You take a deep breath and uncover the microphone one again. “I’m… his girlfriend?” Once the words are out of your mouth you feel even worse, blushing harder. You don’t even know if it will convince her with how insincere you sounded.

“Well… alright.” The woman replies. This is the first time in both of the phone calls that you’ve had with this woman that you actually felt she’s done something right. You gesture for Arin to be quiet- the universal finger to the mouth -and you put her on speaker so that you can use Arin’s notes on his phone. You put in the numbers as she says them, giving her a genuine thanking, before hanging up.

You immediately dial Sans’ number, not wanting to waste any time. He picks up on the third ring, answering with one of the sleepiest “hello?”'s you’ve ever heard. You silently curse yourself, forgetting that, you know, some people are actually sleeping at almost five in the morning.

“Hey, sorry for waking you up, I–”

“woah, why are you up at-” he pauses a moment. “4:50 in the morning? what is going on?” He lets out a loud yawn, sounding like he didn’t even move his phone away from his face to do so.

“Okay, it’s a long story, but the gist of it is that I kicked my sister out of my house, and then some bad guys and broke it. Arin and I got hit but… but we’re okay.” There seems to be a long pause and you almost assume that he fell asleep before you hear movement on his end.

“ _what_? are you sure you guys are alright? where even are you?” Now you aren’t sure if you should have called him, the concern in his voice makes your heart ache. 

“Yes, I’m sure we’ll be alright. And… I’m not exactly sure? Like, we’re at a Family Practices center, but I don’t even know how we got here.” You sigh at how dumb you sound, as if you’re asking for help but there’s no way to help you.

“god dammit. i think i know where you guys are, actually. do... nevermind. that just sounds kinda creepy.” He sounds defeated, wanting to help but unsure how either.

“What?”

“i feel like i know where you are, but if you don’t even know where you are then i can’t even confirm it. i was gonna ask if i could, i dunno’, come wait with you guys.” He pauses a moment before picking back up. “that... kinda just sounds creepy now. sorry.” He sighs, not loudly, but loud enough so you can hear it. You feel bad, though you know you shouldn’t. You’re the one that got hurt, he shouldn’t be the one getting upset about it. Plus, you had Arin. He should know that you’re safe.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I just thought I’d call you, tell you what happened.”

“yeah, i’m glad you did though. where are you guys going to be staying?”

Now you’re confused, and slightly frustrated at his nosiness. “Just at Arin’s, why?”

“you really haven’t thought this through, have you?” He sounds annoyed, enough to make you feel hurt. Why is he being so mean all of a sudden? 

“What do you mean, I haven’t thought this through? Sorry that I was forcibly removed from my house from people that were trying to hurt me when most people were out sleeping, and we’ve been driving around for an hour, trying to get somewhere safe. I haven’t really thought much about anything else, besides the extreme pain I’m in. What’s so wrong about me staying at Arin’s then? You think I won’t be safe? What is it, Sans?” You sound angry, hurt. You sound more harsh than you meant, but you’re tired and you can’t really control yourself much.

“yes! that is exactly it! i know you won’t be safe, because that’s going to be the first place they check, and where they’re going to keep checking!” He sounds angry too, and he’s yelling. You know this shouldn’t make you as upset as it has, you know that he’s just worried about you, but you can’t handle another person in your life that just yells at you whenever they get upset with you.

So, you do what you feel is the best decision right now, and you hang up. You try not to, but you can’t help but cry. Cry over the friend you may have just lost, cry over your house, cry over your injured leg. You just cry. And you don’t even try to stop yourself. Arin gets up from his hair to stand in front of you, kneeling and pulling you into his arms. His embrace is welcoming, and even though he smells like sweat, it’s oddly comforting. You know you must smell just as bad though, if not worse, so you decide not to comment on it. 

It takes you close to twenty minutes to stop, but when it’s finally over, you do feel better. You don’t even notice you still have Arin’s phone in your hand until it starts to vibrate, and you notice that there are two other missed calls, all from the same number. They’re all from Sans.

When Arin sees who it is, instead of letting you answer it, he answers it himself. 

“Look, I don’t know what you said to her, but whatever you did, it upset her. The fuck’s your problem, man? You can’t just talk to someone, that probably just had the worst night of their whole life, and them make them cry!” Arin sounds angrier than Sans does, and he’s yelling too. You cover your ears and lean back, closing your eyes tightly. You can still hear him through your hands, but it’s muffled and sounds more like mumbling. 

You remember doing this very thing a lot when you were younger, trying to drown out your mother yelling at you. Everything seems calmer when you can’t hear them as clearly. Almost as if you were in your own little bubble, far away from where you don’t want to be. 

It doesn’t take long for Arin to notice how you’re sitting and come over to check on you. “Hey, you doing alright?” He lowers the phone, placing his hand on your shoulder. You feel panicked, until you see the calmness and concern in his cool green eyes. You remove your hands from your ears and nod your head, taking a deep breath. 

Arin goes back to the phone call, standing and beginning to pace back and forth in the narrow room. “Yeah, I’m still here. Yeah. She’s fine, alright? You better watch yourself. Don’t be flipping out on her, she didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not letting this go this easily.” He stops talking for a while, wiping his hand down his face in clear aggravation. You know he’s still on the phone, as you can hear Sans’ voice mumbling through the phone’s quiet speaker. “I know you’re concerned, but I’m not sure if that’s the best option right now.” What did Sans say now?

A middle-aged woman walks from out of a room, and takes a moment to realize you two are there, jumping slightly. “Oh! Hello! I didn’t realize anyone was out here, we were all just… Well. How may I help you two today?”

Arin looks up at her, and motions for you to speak to her while he stays on the phone. He walks to the other side of the waiting room, leaving you in your chair. 

“My friend and I really need to be checked out, if that’s alright? It’s a long story, but we ended up getting whacked pretty bad. We would’ve went to a hospital, but we got lost and stumbled across here about half an hour ago. I hope we aren’t too early?”

She looks bewildered. You’re starting to like this lady. As she walks closer you notice she’s already wearing her small metal name badge. ‘Carol,’ it reads. “Oh nonsense. It’s already Five, and we should’ve been already opening up ten minutes ago. Sorry it took me so long to know you were here, I didn’t even hear you two.”

Well, that’s odd, since Arin had been yelling not even five minutes ago.

“Now,” she continues. “What seems to be the problem?


	7. A Place To Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter took forever! Right after I posted the last chapter, I went camping which got me sooo distracted for a few days, and then there was writers block and procrastination and all of that such great stuff. Again, Sorry! I'm really trying to get this schedule down, and it shouldn't be hard since school is out now.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as always
> 
> Time is going by so slowly it seems in this fic, whoopsie.
> 
> [**As always, follow my trashy tumblr for this fic here :)**](http://amagicalconnection.tumblr.com)

You hobble out of the examination room after an hour and a half with Arin and the best kind of cast they carried– not a very good one, you might add, but it does the job –and crutches. Arin walks out with a big ice pack, and instructions on not moving more than is necessary, which you might be slightly jealous of. You have to keep your cast dry, and try to exercise your ankle (but not too much!), and sleep a certain way so it won't hurt in the morning and blah blah blah. She went on a little too long about the cast and all the little instructions, so after the second time of almost nodding off to sleep, she prints out a whole three pages of instructions and sends you both out, giving you both the clear to leave after finishing filling out the paperwork.

You take a bit to get used to the cast. It doesn’t weigh much, since it’s just a plain fiberglass cast, but you need to get the feel of using crutches. You’re thankful for not having to hop around anymore, even though getting around in crutches will prove to be a huge pain. It’s still better than before, so you can’t really complain too much. You practice on the crutches, just moving around the waiting room.

“So…” Arin begins. He walks over to you and away from the desk where he had been finishing signing some paperwork after you’re done taking a few test runs around the room. “When I stayed on the phone with Sans for a bit after you went in there…” You’re not sure if you should be worried or expectant about how he’s decided to start this conversation, but you start to feel at the least nervous.

“And?” You ask simply, setting yourself down in a chair.

“And… I think we came to the decision that we should stay at his house. To stay safe.” You want to say no, but you think about this a minute, going over your realistic options. Sans was right about Arin’s house, they would be checking there. Your house - you don’t even need to think through why that isn’t an option. Neither of you had any large amounts of cash on you, so you can’t just go to a hotel. Obviously any of your family was a no-go. And although you didn’t know him too long, you knew he only did what he thought would be best for you. He cared about you and just wanted you to be safe in the end. You can’t let one outburst ruin what could be a great start.

You sigh and nod, standing from the waiting room chair with the help of your crutches, and the chair’s wooden armrest. “Yeah, that seems like our only logical choice right now. I hope we aren’t being a burden, though.”

Arin laughs; snorts, even. “Your house just got trashed, you’re in a cast and using crutches, and yet you’re still worrying about others more than yourself. You’ve gotta worry about yourself sometimes, you’re gonna hurt yourself if all you do is worry about other people.” He moves along to your left side and carefully gives you an awkward side hug. You go to wrap your arm around him but think otherwise, considering you’d be wrapping your arm right around his bad side. Instead, you lean your head into his shoulder slightly, letting him know you appreciate it.

You giggle to yourself. “Yeah, okay, whatever you say. Still.” He lets you go and you make your way to the door. Realizing you can’t open the door with these– really dumb –crutches in your hands, Arin is quick to open the large glass door for you. “Do you even know how to get there?” You add, hobbling outside.

His face seems to falter slightly, picking back up into a 'I know just what to do!’ look. He picks his phone out of his pocket, and seems to be texting someone while you both make your way to the vehicle. He leans against it, and taps one final time before putting it to sleep. He crosses his arms, phone in one hand and tapping his foot, waiting for a reply. You take this time to appreciate the outside, the fresh air, how quiet it is. You’re far enough outside of town to where you can see tons and tons of stars, and you watch them attentively.

A minute later, Arin’s phone buzzes and he opens it, chuckling to himself silently, catching your attention once more. He moves closer to the road, and lifts his phone for a moment and lowers it back down. He taps his phone a few times before putting it to sleep again and walking back to the vehicle. 

“What was that? Did you… did you just take a selfie?” You question.

“I took a picture of the place, smartass. Sans wanted to know if this is the place he thought it was. He might just come pick us up.”

“But what about-” You were going to ask about the vehicle, but then thought it’d be better just to leave it here, being that it isn’t even yours. That way, they can’t go looking for it, and conveniently find it wherever Sans lives. “Oh, right.” He nods as his phone buzzes again, and you question him silently with your eyebrows, raising one at him.

“Yep, he said this is the place. He said he can show up in about half an hour, so I guess we better find something to do before he gets here.”

____________________________

After about the twentieth round of “I Spy” Sans shows up. You’re still unsure if you’ve fully recovered from his outburst over the phone, so you manage not to look at him the way to his car. You let yourself into the backseat, leaning your crutches against the seat beside you. Arin hesitates, but afterward he climbs into the back seat on the other side of you.

You hadn’t realized how chilly it had been while waiting until you were blasted with heat inside the car. You set the papers you were still carrying beside your crutches in the middle of the seat, not wanting to lose them. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Sans glance back at you more than once while you’re leaving, to which you respond by staring out the window and not meeting his gaze.

You’re tempted to break the silence to ask him to turn the heat down. It’s gotten to the point where it’s almost unbearable, and you’re sweating. As if your cast wasn’t already tight on your leg and hot, now it was sweaty and making you extremely uncomfortable. As you’re finally about to break, partway through you opening your mouth to speak, Arin speaks up before you can. Sans says a brief apology and turns it completely off.

You look over at Arin to find he’s already looking at you and he gives you a look that you’d have to read as ‘don’t worry, I got you’. You smile at him, grateful that he had spoken up so that you didn’t have to. You see Sans through the corner of your eye looking at you through the rearview mirror, and go back to looking out the window. Before you know it, you’ve fallen asleep.

_______________________________

By the time you’re conscious again, in your sleepy haze you’re faintly aware that you’re moving. Not in a car, but… are you in someone’s arms? You figure it’s better not to question it at the moment, given that you don’t want to be walking right now anyway.

“Wait, my,” you pause to yawn loudly, “crutches. I need my crutches…” Your throat is dry and your voice sounds hoarse. You aren’t even fully aware of your surroundings, but at least you have your priorities straight, right?

“yeah yeah, i got ‘em. don’t worry.” Sans’ voice was not the one you were expecting, or really what you wanted, either. Opening your eyes, you realize that he’s the one holding you and that you’re cradled right up to him. You make a sound of discomfort and try to move away, but that doesn’t exactly work since you can’t really move away from someone that’s holding you.

You swore you saw his eye glow blue for a second, but it’s hard to tell since he’s not looking towards you. “hey, i’m sorry. i know that that might not seem like much of an apology, but i am really, genuinely sorry. didn’t mean to raise my voice and stuff at you, you know i just want you to be safe, right?” His voice is deep and calm; comforting even, if you’re being honest.

You think about his apology, and figure it’s in the best to forgive him. You know he was being protective, and maybe a little defensive. He didn’t mean to be mean to you or make you upset. You were probably just being dumb. You relax and sigh, but you don’t say anything. You lean against his arm, almost falling back asleep. He walks you through an open doorway inside a house, down a hallway and to the left, placing you on a couch. The couch is pretty comfortable, at least.

Arin walks in a few steps behind him, holding your crutches and papers, along with his ice pack, which is no doubt warm by now. He shrugs, and sets your crutches against the couch, placing the rest of which he was carrying on the small wooden coffee table in front of the couch.

Sans walks out of room silently, but not before looking between you both with a look you just can’t quite read. You hope he isn’t worried, you know you’ll be fine. 

“How’re you taking all this, sleepyhead? Think you’ll be alright staying here with him?” Arin sits on the arm of the couch, watching you with sleepy, glazed-over eyes. 

You nod. “Yeah, he already apologized when he was carrying me in. I guess I accept the apology, we’re all clear on things now. And he’s being so nice. Giving us a place to stay and all. I can move on from the past.” You look at Arin and give him a sleepy smile. 

Sans walks in then, carrying a blanket. He looks over to both of you, unsure of what to do. “i, uh, brought you a blanket. i know the couch isn’t too great, but the only guest room is upstairs. figured you wouldn’t wanna be walking up stairs with the whole hurt leg or whatever.” His eyes wander to your cast, a look of concern on his face. He unfolds the blanket and drapes it over you carefully. 

“Thank you, Sans. It means a lot.” You smile in hopes that in your tired haze it looks genuine. By the way his face perks up just the slightest, you think that you had managed.

“Is that where I’ll be staying?” Arin asks, seeming just a bit left out. 

“huh?” Sans asks. 

“The guest room?” Arin has to bring back to Sans’ attention the guest room he had mentioned. 

“oh yeah, whoops. i can show you where it is if you want.” Sans suggests. 

“Well, I don’t quite know my way around, so that would probably be helpful, yes.” Even though some people might take that as a snappy or rude remark, you can hear the playfulness underneath. You laugh at him, not sure if you actually found it funny, or if that’s just the tiredness taking control now. 

Sans is unsure how to take it, instead just looking to you before leaving the room silently and beckoning Arin to follow. Arin in return slumps off the arm of the couch and follows, grabbing his not-so-icy pack before leaving the room. 

Which just leaves you alone in the room. Too tired to get up, and not wanting to get on your crutches either, you look around the room, though there’s not much to look at. There’s a fairly-sized TV, a small wooden coffee table, and the couch. Besides that, the only other furniture in here is a small side table with a rock on top of a paper plate. And… is that sprinkles on the rock? And googly eyes? You can’t help but laugh at that. What is a grown man– skeleton man? Skele-man? –doing with what seems like this pet rock?

“what, you making fun of poor little rocky?” Sans’ voice, since so unaware of him being there, makes you jump. He winces, and holds his hands up defensively. “sorry, shoulda’ warned you i was here. sorry.” You feel a little bad for how quickly he’s apologizing. You know Arin wouldn’t have apologized at all. He would’ve just laughed at you for a bit, you’d punch him in the arm later, that’s just how things were. But not with Sans, you guess. 

“No, no, it’s fine. Really, you don’t have to apologize over everything.” Geez, you’re doing a lot of reassuring smiling recently. Hopefully you won’t have to be reassuring everyone soon, you’re not sure if your face can take this much smiling. 

“then, i’m not sorry?” He questions, chuckling to himself. You can’t help but laugh too. 

“So, what’s with ‘Rocky’ over there? Got lonely, needed someone to keep you company?’

“heh, papyrus got it. said i needed to be more responsible so he got me a pet rock, which i have to feed with sprinkles. even though he’s the one that’s been feeding him, really.” He shrugs, it seems like he’s not even sure how to feel about the random rock.

“You live here with Papyrus?” You thought he had lived alone, but thinking back to how Papyrus was acting in the café, you can’t say you’re surprised. He was like a child in a seven-foot tall body.

“yeah, we always did underground, and we figured it’d just feel weird living on our own up here. figured it’d just be better for the both of us.” He sighs– you’re going to have a lot of questions for him sometime. He doesn’t have lungs, how is he sighing?? –and yawns. “but, it sure has been a long night for you. get some sleep, rest that leg.” He stands to leave, but you catch him before he’s gone.

“Hey Sans?”

“yeah?” He turns back to face you, leaning on his arm against the doorway.

“Thank you. For letting us stay here, for looking out for Arin and I. I’m sorry for how I acted before. I was being dumb.” You feel better getting that off your chest, and the way his eyes brighten make you feel happier. 

“anytime. and nah you weren’t bein’ dumb. but don’t worry ‘bout it, you’re fine.” He smiles at you, then leaves the room. 

You pull the blanket up to your chin, and think about the great friends you have. More than you’ve ever had previously, ever since you were out of high school. Even then you aren’t sure if you’ve had friends that you were certain were your friends. But now you have two, possibly three great friends. You fall asleep, knowing that you’re loved and cared about.


	8. A Path of Destruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the wait guys. I went through a period of time where I didn't feel like writing, and wasn't really feeling motivated enough to write this. But, the past few days I've been busting ass, writing this chapter (that's actually right around 3,900 words!), along with playing Overwatch but that isn't too important. Hopefully having a chapter almost twice as long as most of my normally sized ones will make up for my absence. 
> 
> I appreciate each and every one of you guys, I do this for all of you reading :) I'm so happy that this has reached over 1K reads! Idk why, but thank you all so much!
> 
> As always, [](amagicalconnection.tumblr.com>Click%20Here%20to%20get%20a%20hold%20of%20me%20on%20my%20AMC%20official%20tumblr</a>%20and%20to%20ask%20me%20any%20questions.)

You wake up feeling groggy and sore, balled up in the corner of the couch, cocooned in the blanket. You take the blanket off of you and take a deep breath, considering how hot you were underneath it. Looking around, you start faintly remembering that you’re at Sans’ house now, after you had quite the uninvited visitor at your ‘slumber party’. You smell what must be breakfast and as if on queue, your stomach growls loudly. You groan and put your feet on the ground, wincing as you set your hurt foot down harsher than is necessary. 

 

Grabbing your crutches that are still leaning against the arm of the couch, you pull yourself up to stand and do your best to follow the smell. It leads you to an impressively sized kitchen with a small table in the corner. Looking towards where the smell is coming from, you see Papyrus cooking what appears to be eggs and bacon, wearing a “Kiss the Cook” apron and a chef hat. You giggle to yourself, which is enough to get the tall skeleton’s attention. 

 

“OH HELLO AGAIN, HUMAN! I DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE YOU UP THIS EARLY!” Well that was a sudden reminder of just how loud he can be. You wince slightly, but you aren’t afraid.

 

“Yeah, I wasn’t either. I was kinda hoping to sleep a little while longer, but here I am!” You try to sound as enthusiastic as possible, but it sounds so sarcastic that you don’t think anyone would’ve even mistaken it for enthusiasm.

 

“THAT IS QUITE ALRIGHT HUMAN, YOU WILL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO REST WHILE YOU ARE HERE!” He flips an egg and moves the bacon around in the pan skillfully, making a satisfying sizzling noise. Figuring it does no good to just stand around, you start looking around the kitchen for plates and such. After checking the third cupboard, Papyrus catches onto what you’re looking for and directs to the correct cupboard.

 

After counting– yes, you actually had to count –how many people would be there you grabbed four plates and set them down on the counter below the cupboard. You had to think through how to move them from here to the table, about 5 feet away. Papyrus abandons his eggs and bacon a moment to move them for you and setting silverware on top of the plates. 

 

“IT IS VERY THOUGHTFUL OF YOU TO HELP SET THE TABLE, HUMAN! EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOULD NOT BE UP AND AROUND TOO MUCH ON YOUR LEG! USUALLY SANS IS FAR TOO LAZY TO HELP OUT, BUT IT’S QUITE ALRIGHT. I DON’T MIND TAKING CARE OF THAT-” He pauses a moment, quite literally facepalming. “TAKING CARE OF THAT… LAZY BONES.” He says, defeated. Regardless, it causes you to laugh at his reaction to his own bone pun. 

 

“So I see you’ve got yourself a  _ funny bone _ too, huh?” Papyrus groans loudly and continues to move the food around in the frying pan. “What? Was that not  _ punny _ enough for you?” You take a seat at the table, laughing at yourself as he shakes his head, obviously unimpressed, although you swear you notice just the slightest bit of a smile.

 

Sans sleepily walks into the kitchen and takes the seat across from you, somehow his skull has deep dark bags under his eye sockets. “mornin’.” He says lazily, giving you a small smile. You can’t help but smile back, at this sleepy skeleton giving you the goofiest smile. 

 

“Mornin’ sleepybones,” You reply. He stares at you in such a way that you almost think he’s angry, before he bursts out laughing. Papyrus does another loud groan, reminding you that he’s even still there. 

 

“DID YOU DO THIS ON PURPOSE, SANS! I THOUGHT YOUR PUNS WERE BAD, BUT HERS ARE EVEN WORSE!” Papyrus takes the pan off the stovetop, and sets the food on a large plate. He brings the plate to the table and sets it down in the middle, free for whoever to take the food.

 

“Do what on purpose?” You question. You eye sans, hoping that he’ll explain. 

 

“he thinks i’m teaching you how to tell these  _ eggcelent _ puns, i think.” He says, picking up an egg to place on his plate and winking at you. The way Papyrus groans again proves that he must’ve been right. “but i gotta admit it paps, ‘m not the one teachin’ her.” He shrugs nonchalantly, cutting his egg with the side of his fork. 

 

Papyrus sets a few more pieces of bacon on the hot frying pan, moving them around before coming and settling into the chair beside you. He grabs two eggs and a few pieces of bacon to put on his plate, wasting no time in cutting them up. You are feeling pretty hungry, grabbing yourself a few eggs and some slices of bacon. 

 

There isn’t much talk between the table while you eat, mostly just scraping noises against plates and teeth. You catch yourself watching the vertebrae by Sans’ skull, watching, waiting to see if food drops from the bottom. He clears his non-existent throat, and when you meet his eyes, his have already gotten damn well acquainted with yours. You feel that heat crawling up your face, and you take interest in your meal once again. Was that rude? Besides the obvious staring, but would it be rude to just ask him how he ate? Maybe sometime.

 

You finish your food and set your plate in the sink, thanking Papyrus for the truly wonderful meal. You contemplate moving your broken self up the stairs to go get Arin, but give up after attempting the first stair. You sigh, making your way back to the couch in defeat.

 

You almost feel like going back to sleep, but the moment you feel yourself drifting off, Arin peeks into the room. “Hey there Sleeping Beauty, rise and shine!” You groan in response, opening your eyes to look at him angrily. “Now I’m not so sure if you’re supposed to be the beauty or the beast, sheesh.” You scoot back on the couch and sit up, squinting your eyes at him.

 

“I’m not the one that wasn’t even down here for breakfast, what’s your excuse?” You stick your tongue out at him and he sits next to you, grabbing the TV remote from the table.

 

“Okay, I’m the lazy one, you caught me.” He smiles easily with his teeth, keeping his eyes on the TV as he turns it on and begins flipping through commercials. More than once you see an actor you’ve never noticed before, dressed in more than one black and pink garment each time he goes through. 

 

At some point Sans must have came into the living room to watch TV with you guys, as you notice now that he’s sitting next to you. You and Arin had decided on just watching some sort of show you’d never seen, but you weren’t paying much attention to it, off in dream world.

 

Sans elbows you in the side gently, grabbing your attention from nowhere in particular. You glance over, and he nods to your other side, where Arin has already fallen back asleep. He’s leaned back, tipping his head all the way back onto the couch. His mouth is open, and you swear you might see a little bit of spit slipping from his mouth. With his hair in his face, you think he almost looks handsome, in some weird and nerdy kind of way.

 

You have to cover your mouth to keep from giggling too loud, not wanting to wake him. However, when you turn to look back at Sans the look he gives you is enough to get you to laugh fairly loudly. He has his eye…. lights? crossed, his brow bones creased, and his cheeks puffed out. Your laughters comes in bursts, gasping in between and trying to catch your breath when you can. You’re finally able to stop your laughter when you choke on your spit and Sans brings you some water to calm you down. 

 

Arin is awake by the time you’ve stopped coughing, eyeing you with caution. You just give him an awkward smile and shrug, trying to act as if nothing had even happened at all. He questions you with his eyes, but decides against not asking anything. He goes back to watching TV, when you leave the living room (slowly, but surely) to refill your glass that Sans had brought you.

 

You lean against the counter, not wanting to sit but not wanting to stand, drinking your water slowly this time. Sans appears minutes later, looking less than enthusiastic. “What’s goin’ on, bonehead?” You ask.

 

“well, uh, we should probably start to work on the whole 'house getting wrecked’ situation, i mean, if you wanna?” His voice stays low, as if he doesn’t want to be talking about it either. 

 

You sigh, all hope that you could just push that off until later vanishing. You take one last gulp of water before setting the glass down, thinking of what you should be doing first. “Well, what do we know so far? I mean, we called the police-” you recall when your house was being broken into, and note that you had, indeed, called the police. “We called the police! Oh, god, I don't even know what they could have done at that point. Could we ask them? Can you do that with police?” 

 

Sans, still taken back by your random outburst, is trying to wrap his head around everything you asked in quick succession. It takes a moment before he seems to bring himself back together again. “uh, we could try i guess. it's worth a shot. want to go drive up there now?” 

 

You nod eagerly, wanting to get out and do something besides being trapped on the couch all day. You head out the door, Sans informing Arin where you two would be before following you close behind. You manage to get in the car by yourself without much trouble, surprisingly. You both head out to town silently, watching the trees go by. It isn’t long before you start seeing actual signs of civilization, the town forming around you more and more. Sans heads straight to the police station, not wasting any time. He must want to get this over and done with just as much as you do. 

 

Getting out of the car was proving to be more difficult, and Sans has to come to help you. As you are about to head inside, you pause and close your eyes, taking a few deep breaths. 

 

“you gonna be aight?” He asks, seemingly worried about your well being. 

“Yeah… yeah. I’ll be okay. I just got to stay calm, easy enough, right?” You nod at him, smiling, trying to conceal the minor stress you were feeling. 

 

“yeah, you can do that, can’t you? look, i can try and do most of the talking, okay? you’ll do just fine.” He grabs your forearm in a firm but pleasant way, successfully calming you down. You smile at him, and wait for him to open the front door for you.

 

Once inside, you feel bad for stressing about being here. Everyone seems so friendly, even though there aren’t many people here. There was one officer that seemed to give Sans a rude look, but after they saw your own look, they went back to work and minded their own business. 

 

As you reach the front desk, the small woman looks up from her paperwork, raising an eyebrow. “And… what might I be able to do for you two today?” You can't quite grasp what tone she's using, but you don't feel threatened or intimidated. 

 

“uh, we’re here to know what happened after a call was placed, if we could? they called in late last night, reporting…” he trails off, eyeing you instead. Oh, right. You placed the the call, not him.

 

“Oh, my friend called reporting a break in at my house? I didn’t know my address since I had just moved, so he had them trace the phone back. On Maple Street?” You sound as nervous as you most likely look, and the way that Sans frees a hand from his hoodie pocket to try to soothe you again by running your arm proves it. The woman looks between you both again before opening a drawer of files, looking through them quickly.

 

She pulls one out after another, checking two or three at a time before placing them back where they had been before. It's not long before she pulls one out and seems to have found what she had been looking for, placing it instead onto her desk. “Does this report sound about right?”

 

She hands you only one of the papers from the folder, stating an address, who owns the residence, and what kind of call was made from there. The address sounds right, and that is your name, so it all send correct. 

 

“Yes! This is it! What else does it say about it?” You feel happier now, glad that you know the police had at least showed up. 

 

“That, I'm afraid, I cannot show you unless you show me some sign of identification.” And your heart drops. Your ID, your wallet with your passport, everything had been left inside when you had left.

 

“I-I don't have any. It's all in my house, can you please-”

 

“No,” She responds, too quickly for you to want to argue with her any more. “I'm sorry. I'm legally not allowed to show you these without any ID.” And when you look back to her, her face seems to prove that she is actually sorry, that she wanted to show you.

 

You nod, quietly turning and making your way back to the front door. Without waiting for Sans to follow, you put your crutches into the back seat of his car once again, getting into the passenger seat, feeling like the whole world was against you right now.

 

Sans enters the car into the driver's seat not long after, pulling out from the small parking lot and into the road. But, he isn't going the way from which you had came from. 

 

You decide against asking where he was going, not to criticize his driving that he had probably been doing since he had gotten up to the surface. You figured he knew the way to his own house.

 

_____________________________

 

Turns out, that although that skeletal man did in fact know where his own house was, that that is not in fact where he was heading. Halfway there, you recognize the building along the way, and once you pass the café it clicks. You’re not heading to his house, you're heading towards your own house. You sit straighter in your seat, not caring how obviously on edge you must seem. You look around, up and down the street for anyone that seems even slightly suspicious. 

 

You don’t, considering that it’s high noon, and the only person crazy enough to be outside in almost 90 degree weather is the elderly lady that’s always doing elderly things outside. You relax, but keep your eyes peeled for everything and anything. 

 

You almost say something before your house comes into view. You hold your face in your hands, telling yourself that you didn’t just see that, and don’t uncover your face until you feel the car pull into the single lot and stop. But, unlike how you had wished for, the house was still a wreck; the front door had large cracks, along with a hole in the middle, the windows were all broken, and looking through the ground level window you could just barely make out the TV, with spiderweb cracks all throughout the surface of the screen.

 

You feel like this is a dream, that it couldn't possibly be real. You'll wake up any second, and you'll be back to moving into your beautiful new house, ready to start your new life, your better life. But no matter how many times you pinch yourself, you're still sitting in the passenger seat, numb over your destroyed house. You can't speak, and you don't even know if you're breathing, all you can focus on is your house.

 

You open the passenger door, stepping out and grabbing your crutches from the backseat better than you ever have before. You go right up to your door and don't even have to worry if it's unlocked, considering that you could easily such your arm through the hole if you needed to. You step through the doorway of the property, immediately smelling some sort of foul odor you hadn't been able to smell from outside. You turn into the living room first, already aware of the TV and its many, many cracks. Your couches are dismantled, the cushions look as if multiple dogs head used them as chew toys for many years. The coffee table is in splinters, and the back of your recliner has been broken off.

 

Next you move to the kitchen, where things seem to be getting worse and worse. Each floor tile seemed to have been thought of individually, each having a noticeable impact points and spiraled cracks. Some tiles are missing completely, leaving to wonder two things;  _ how,  _ and  _ why? _ Two small cabinets were ripped from their places, piles of wood and countertop in the corner of the room. The kitchen sink’s faucet is bent at an odd angle, had been hit with something you assume. The lights are all shattered, and you note that you have to be careful while walking through with all of the glass on the floor. 

 

Being so delved into trying to take in every detail, you jump as Sans grabs your arm gently.

 

“you gonna be okay?” His voice is deeper than usual, threaded with concern. He pulls you gently from the kitchen and back into the living room, leading you to sit down on the half of the recliner that isn’t broken. You nod numbly. You know you aren’t ‘okay’, you aren’t ‘doing just fine’, and you know that he can tell that you’re about to fall apart right in front of him. He doesn’t say anything, though.

 

“hey, you wait here, alright? where was your wallet and stuff, i’ll grab it for you.” You try to think back to before they had showed up, when you and Arin were just hanging out. 

 

You nod again. “I… I think I left it on my bed upstairs. It’s in my purse maybe. Uh, my room is up the stairs, you go right and it’s the first one on the left.” He pats you on the back as he walks past you, wasting no time to get your things. 

 

You sit there, looking around the room at everything damaged. The one picture frame you had put up on the wall, you as a child with your favorite dog, was shattered badly and off-centered. You stand and walk over to it, grabbing it off the wall carefully. You shake out all the loose glass, and then remove the picture from the frame. The picture itself isn’t damaged, to your surprise. You look at the picture, and you can still remember the picture being taken as if it was just the other day, rather than over a decade ago. 

 

It was a week before your 6th birthday, back before your birth mother had passed. She had gotten you the dog exactly a year ago, and the animal was still your favorite thing. An Alaskan Malamute, such a beautiful dog. When you had received the dog when it was just a puppy it had been so small, but in just a year she had gotten so large, almost your size. You weren’t a very large child, but it was still quite a large dog. You missed that dog, your father and stepmother had sold it a year after your mother passed, whether it was from the lingering memories or not, you weren’t sure. Aspen had been her name, you thought it had fit her well. You had just been playing frisbee with Aspen, both out of breath and needing a break. You had just laid in the cool grass, and Aspen had came and laid beside you. Your mother took the picture without you even knowing until you had unwrapped the picture and frame on your birthday as one of your presents.

 

Sans comes back down the stairs with your purse in hand, pausing to watch you look at the picture, not wanting to interrupt your thoughts. You looked happy remembering your childhood dog, something he didn’t want to disturb. But as he steps off the last stair it creaks, snapping you out of your trance. You give one last look at the picture before you look to him, seeing the purse in his hand. 

 

“Oh thank god they hadn’t ruined it, it has my life in there.” You breathe out before grabbing it from him, looking through it to make sure everything was there. Surprisingly, nothing seems to be missing, but you’d rather be thankful then question it as it is. 

 

“yeah, it was a little difficult to find, though… you don’t want to go up there.” He shakes his head, to himself more that to anything else. You glance up the stairs, not realizing that half the stairs were also smashed in. You decide it would be best to listen to him, not wanting to know what it could look like at the moment. 

 

He glances at the picture in your hand and motions to it with his phalanges. “what’cha got there?”

 

You glance back down at the momentarily forgotten picture, and hand it to him. “It was me when I was younger, and that was my dog Aspen. Best friends, I wish I still had her.” He seems worried to ask, you can tell in the way his brow bones seem to crease into his seeming malleable skull. You shake your head quickly, “Not in the sense that she’s dead, I mean, she’s actually still alive most likely. My dad had sold her after he remarried.” You shrug, trying not to get emotional. 

 

He seems to sense it, the way he hands the picture back and smiles warmly at you. He pats you on the back, letting his hand linger as he gently moves you to the door, being slow with you and your crutches. 

 

“well, i dunno ‘bout you but i’d rather not stay in this depressing place longer than i have to. wanna go, i dunno, get some ice cream? just relax?” He opens the door for you and stays behind, waiting for you to pass through before closing the door behind you. He doesn’t bother locking the door, and you don’t blame him. 

  
“Yeah, that would be nice, actually. I’d like that.” You reply, smiling at him. You allow him to help you into the passenger seat this time, putting your crutches into the back seat once again. He hops into the driver’s seat, and after buckling, you’re both off to find some ice cream. 


	9. uh oh spaghetti-o

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> whoops

whoopsie my dudes I've done it again and I have stopped writing

No, I will not try to write another story more than like, 2 chapters. Unless I'm being paid

Yes, I am thinking about continuing writing stuff by request or something but nothing too long or anything.

If you wanna stay caught up with me, I'll be over at [this tumblr here](i-write-occaisonally.tumblr.com) if you need me/wanna request stuff. I'll write anything. I just wont try to make it like a small book or anything.


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